The state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday staged a mass protest in Kaziranga against the unabated poaching of rhinos at the national park over the last few months.

The party's central general secretary, P Chandrasekhor, state unit president Sarbananda Sonowal, former president Ranjit Dutta, MP Rajen Gohain, MLA Prasanta Phukan and Ranjit Das also joined the programme along with hundreds of activists of their party.

The activists staged a demonstration at Kohora Chariali in Kaziranga for about two hours and raised their voice against rhino poaching. They said due to the government's failure, rhino poaching is on the rise. "We condemn the government for it's failure to protect rhinos from poachers in Kaziranga and demand proper steps to stop such killings at the earliest. We believe that due to the negligence of the government, these killings in Kaziranga are on the rise. We want poaching to be stopped at any cost," said BJP state unit president Sarbananda Sonowal.

He added, "We also demand the government at the centre and in the state to take steps to detect and deport suspected Bangladeshi nationals from Kaziranga and it's nearby areas without delay. It is a proven fact that poachers take shelter in huts of these suspected Bangladeshi nationals to carry out their activities inside the park. So, the government should take steps to detect and deport these suspected nationals from Kaziranga."

The BJP president also slammed the government for handing over just three cases of rhino poaching to CBI for investigation. "The government has handed over only three rhino poaching cases to the CBI so far. But we want all the incidents that occurred in the park since 2001 to be handed over to the central agency," he said.

According to records available with park authorities, 12 rhinos have been killed in the park so far this year.